I think my battery is slowly dying. Odd behavior below 10% SOC. Can I make it to the end of my lease?

[SWORDER]

Specs
Current Vehicle: 2021 Taycan Turbo S
Delivered: June 2021
Lease Term: 42 months
Miles: approx. 41,000 (yeah, I put a lot of miles on this sucker!)

The dealership typically lets me cancel a few months early with no penalty if I'm rolling into a new lease. And I plan to. The Taycan TS experience has been absolutely fantastic with the exception of Electrify America, which absolutely sucks.

Problem
I think my battery is slowly dying and I need to try and keep it alive until I get my next Taycan. When I say it's dying, I mean range is gradually reduced. I can get maybe 130 miles on a full charge, max, even with the premium battery. The estimator will say I have 160-170 after a charge to 100% but the reality is far worse.

Odd Behavior Today
Because the battery drains so quickly, sometimes I'm showing up at the charging stations at a low SOC. It's rare that I get below 10% though. Today, I needed to travel 7 miles to the charging station, mostly downhill, with 10% SOC, 15 miles of estimated range remaining. I didn't quite make it. With about three miles left to my destination and 11 miles range remaining, I got a red "Electrical System Failure; Stop in a safe place" message. I couldn't accelerate, only coast.

I pulled over to the shoulder of the freeway, put the car in park, got out, locked it, and stood there for a few minutes pondering the poor life decisions I've made. I got back in, started up, no errors, and made my way to the charging station with maybe eight miles of estimated range left. I put the car in park in front of the charger and again received "Electrical System Failure." Unable to shift into reverse or drive. I tried charging. Charging failed.

I again turned the car off, locked it, waited a couple of minutes, unlocked, and tried charging again. Success! I got about 110kW and brought the SOC back up to 97% with 166 miles on the range estimator. Everything seems to be working now. I drove the car home without issue.

Question
What do you speculate happened here? Clearly, the battery can no longer supply the car with enough juice when I get under 10%. My preference would be to keep driving the car, and take no action until the lease ends and I roll into a 2025. But is this safe? I've read stories on this forum about people who have replaced their battery and it takes literally months! That's not how I'd like to spend the remainder of my lease. But I don't want to put myself in danger either.

Can I get away with just dealing with the crap range for a few months, never letting SOC drop below 10%, or is that 10% floor going to keep creeping up to a point where the car just becomes undrivable at any state of charge?

Thanks for the advice!

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[ciaranob]

Buy an OBDII reader (e.g.Vgate vLinker MC+ or other - range from $30 to $130) on Amazon or wherever and use the free CarScanner app to get a snapshot of your Soh and a HV battery cell map - both of these metrics will potentially tell you a lot about what is going on re the health of your battery pack. Can use it on your next Taycan too (or any other EV for that matter).

Large no. of forum users monitor their battery this way - ton of knowledge in related threads.

For ref can look at this thread too but mega long thread !

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/baseline-for-hv-battery-soh-performance.12815/

PS: Guessometer ranges highly variable of course but nonetheless your PCM predicted range does seem particularly low - hence above recommendation as might highlight for example some problematic cells.

 

[DerekS]

Specs
Current Vehicle: 2021 Taycan Turbo S
Delivered: June 2021
Lease Term: 42 months
Miles: approx. 41,000 (yeah, I put a lot of miles on this sucker!)

The dealership typically lets me cancel a few months early with no penalty if I'm rolling into a new lease. And I plan to. The Taycan TS experience has been absolutely fantastic with the exception of Electrify America, which absolutely sucks.

Problem
I think my battery is slowly dying and I need to try and keep it alive until I get my next Taycan. When I say it's dying, I mean range is gradually reduced. I can get maybe 130 miles on a full charge, max, even with the premium battery. The estimator will say I have 160-170 after a charge to 100% but the reality is far worse.

Odd Behavior Today
Because the battery drains so quickly, sometimes I'm showing up at the charging stations at a low SOC. It's rare that I get below 10% though. Today, I needed to travel 7 miles to the charging station, mostly downhill, with 10% SOC, 15 miles of estimated range remaining. I didn't quite make it. With about three miles left to my destination and 11 miles range remaining, I got a red "Electrical System Failure; Stop in a safe place" message. I couldn't accelerate, only coast.

I pulled over to the shoulder of the freeway, put the car in park, got out, locked it, and stood there for a few minutes pondering the poor life decisions I've made. I got back in, started up, no errors, and made my way to the charging station with maybe eight miles of estimated range left. I put the car in park in front of the charger and again received "Electrical System Failure." Unable to shift into reverse or drive. I tried charging. Charging failed.

I again turned the car off, locked it, waited a couple of minutes, unlocked, and tried charging again. Success! I got about 110kW and brought the SOC back up to 97% with 166 miles on the range estimator. Everything seems to be working now. I drove the car home without issue.

Question
What do you speculate happened here? Clearly, the battery can no longer supply the car with enough juice when I get under 10%. My preference would be to keep driving the car, and take no action until the lease ends and I roll into a 2025. But is this safe? I've read stories on this forum about people who have replaced their battery and it takes literally months! That's not how I'd like to spend the remainder of my lease. But I don't want to put myself in danger either.

Can I get away with just dealing with the crap range for a few months, never letting SOC drop below 10%, or is that 10% floor going to keep creeping up to a point where the car just becomes undrivable at any state of charge?

Thanks for the advice!

Some folks I know with battery failure reported absurdly low range just before the fail. You're in a race between the failure and your next lease

 

[Fish Fingers]

If in doubt, maybe time to think of the next potential owner?

So even if you limp to the end of the lease, make sure at least the dealer knows of the issue, to get it remedied before some unfortunate individual buys it?

Personally, I would raise the issue now.

 

[2P168S]

If you don’t get it fixed soon, then at least please please stop parking it in your attached garage (if you have one). Without the dealer looking at it you can’t know what the issue is, but root cause of that issue may also be a fire risk.

 

[DougFrisk]

Problem
I think my battery is slowly dying and I need to try and keep it alive until I get my next Taycan. When I say it's dying, I mean range is gradually reduced. I can get maybe 130 miles on a full charge, max, even with the premium battery. The estimator will say I have 160-170 after a charge to 100% but the reality is far worse.

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this. The battery is under warranty, get it replaced under warranty. Why worry about keeping it limping along when you can get it fixed and likely get a loaner while it's in the shop.

 

[SWORDER]

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this. The battery is under warranty, get it replaced under warranty.

As I mentioned in my original post:

1. Lease renewal is around the corner. And it very well may end several months ahead of schedule when I roll into a 2025.
2. Battery replacements, according to this forum, can often take months.

This means a good fraction of balance of the lease term could be spent without my car. That battery will no doubt need to be replaced, but I'd rather it be during someone else's lease term.

Why worry about keeping it limping along when you can get it fixed and likely get a loaner while it's in the shop.

Yes, I'm sure they'd happily give me a loaner Macan or Cayenne for a few months, but seeing as how I'm not a fifty year old mom / housewife, I don't see this as a particularly appealing option. It may be preferable to just deal with the poor 130-140 mile range for a few months. I'm not saying it definitely is preferable, just analyzing whether it might be.

The only factors that really affect my decision tree then, are whether or not this is a safety issue, and if not, how fast will the range degradation occur over the remaining term of my lease, and how willing am I to deal with it?

I'm going to call my sales rep, explain the situation, and see what he recommends after talking offline with some of his buddies from service. I've been dealing with his team for twenty years and trust them. His and my incentives are aligned; We both want me in a 2025 (when available) and it's highly likely I'll just do whatever he recommends. Just figured I'd get some feedback from the group first.

 

[DerekS]

Counterpoint:

- While you drive the loaner, you're not accruing miles or wear on the lease, both of which will be counted against you at turn-in.

 

[SWORDER]

If you don’t get it fixed soon, then at least please please stop parking it in your attached garage (if you have one).

I don't have a attached garage. I park in the gated, underground garage of a condo community. Although I guess, technically, that does count as attached? In any case, I don't plug in at night in this garage, although I am on the waiting list for an EV charging spot. They're hard to come by unless someone dies or moves. I just use public chargers.

Without the dealer looking at it you can’t know what the issue is, but root cause of that issue may also be a fire risk.

What leads you to believe this decrease in range and odd battery behavior presents a fire risk? A stall-out risk, sure. And that's huge. But why a fire risk?

Yes, I will be asking sales rep and service for some advice on the issue. Car will likely be examined, unless I'm told it's not necessary.

 

[007]

I would also ask if you can get a Taycan loaner.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this. The battery is under warranty, get it replaced under warranty. Why worry about keeping it limping along when you can get it fixed and likely get a loaner while it's in the shop.

I agree, and it seems pretty simple at this point. There is clearly something wrong with your battery, and the dealer should fix it. Period. Definitely do not continue driving the car, you're just asking to be bricked at some point.

 

[2P168S]

What leads you to believe this decrease in range and odd battery behavior presents a fire risk? A stall-out risk, sure. And that's huge. But why a fire risk?

Porsche is preparing a recall due to battery fire risk: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2023/RCLRPT-23V840-4026.PDF

They are determining which cars to recall by looking for unusual battery behavior: "Telematics data from vehicles in the field also show real-time battery performance anomalies"

Your car is exhibiting odd battery behavior.

Just saying, better safe than sorry.

 

[Tooney]

Problem
I think my battery is slowly dying and I need to try and keep it alive until I get my next Taycan.
...
With about three miles left to my destination and 11 miles range remaining, I got a red "Electrical System Failure; Stop in a safe place" message. I couldn't accelerate, only coast.
...
I put the car in park in front of the charger and again received "Electrical System Failure." Unable to shift into reverse or drive. I tried charging. Charging failed.
...
What do you speculate happened here?
But is this safe?
But I don't want to put myself in danger either.
...
Can I get away with just dealing with the crap range for a few months, never letting SOC drop below 10%, or is that 10% floor going to keep creeping up to a point where the car just becomes undrivable at any state of charge?

Thanks for the advice!

When OP is warned that red electrical system warnings may not be safe, OP disagrees.
Rather than taking car in for service, argue online with anons and indicate he may discuss the matter with his sales rep.
LOL this whole thread looks like a troll.

 

[SWORDER]

When OP is warned that red electrical system warnings may not be safe, OP disagrees.
Rather than taking car in for service, argue online with anons and indicate he may discuss the matter with his sales rep.
LOL this whole thread looks like a troll.

Wow, you're so full of shit. Did that nice little tantrum make you feel better about yourself?

Not that I owe you an explanation, but I reached out to Porsche dealership same day. It's not a problem with the battery at all. It's a software issue that can be solved with some patch on their side.

Yes, I asked for opinions online. So what? You really need to learn to keep your mouth shut if you have nothing of value to contribute (which judging from your post, I suspect is often). Trust me when I say, those in your social circle will appreciate your silence. You're welcome.

 

[SWORDER]

Porsche is preparing a recall due to battery fire risk: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2023/RCLRPT-23V840-4026.PDF

They are determining which cars to recall by looking for unusual battery behavior: "Telematics data from vehicles in the field also show real-time battery performance anomalies"

Your car is exhibiting odd battery behavior.

Just saying, better safe than sorry.

Wasn't subject to this particular recall but an update is being applied nonetheless so it was worth the visit.

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